Miliband approves huge solar farm being built by major Labour donor
Energy Secretary accused of ‘thrashing the countryside’ as he backs Dale Vince project
PAUL HOMEWOOD
The Telegraph reports:
Ed Miliband has been criticised after approving an application for a huge solar farm in Lincolnshire owned by millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince.
The Energy Secretary faces scrutiny after approving Heckington Fen Solar Park on Friday, which is owned by Mr Vince’s green energy business Ecotricity.
The decision has angered local residents and councillors, who have accused Mr Miliband of pandering to Mr Vince, who donated £5m to Labour in the run-up to the general election.
Colin Davie, executive councillor for environment, economy and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We need to ask the question of the Secretary of State as to whether he has declared the nature of his relationship with Dale Vince, the applicant for this site and the Labour Party’s biggest donor.”
He accused Mr Miliband of “trashing the countryside” by approving the solar farm, which will span 524 hectares.
Marc Williams, another Lincolnshire councillor, called the decision “disgraceful” and highlighted Mr Vince’s role as a Labour donor.
He said: “The only people these developments benefit are the people who are behind these businesses.”
As well as the Heckington project, Mr Miliband also waved through a separate solar farm called West Burton. This forms part of his attempt to boost Britain’s green energy supplies as he attempts to achieve clean power by 2030.
The two developments will amount to more than 1000 hectares of solar farms in Lincolnshire, which developers say will power hundreds of thousands of homes.
‘Slap in the face’
However, locals are angry over the prospect of high-quality farmland being covered in solar panels.
Mr Williams said: “Lincolnshire has the best agricultural land in the UK. No land [of this nature] should be used for anything other than farming. We are already beholden to other countries for a significant amount of the UK food supply.”
His criticism was echoed by Mr Davie, who said the decision showed how the Government “has not listened to our residents”.
Mr Davie said: “Quite frankly these decisions are another slap in the face for Lincolnshire, and the government must start considering the cumulative impacts of all these proposals in our county.
GB News also report that locals are furious:
Marc Williams, another Lincolnshire councillor, called the decision “disgraceful” and highlighted Mr Vince’s role as a Labour donor.
He said: “The only people these developments benefit are the people who are behind these businesses.”
Frances Innes, a resident of Navenby village, expressed alarm at the pace of development.
“This is so frightening on how many and how fast these applications are been put forward, these villages are just been swallowed up and suffocated. What is so frustrating is not been listened too,” she said.
It has been estimated that Dale Vince has been paid as much as £100 million of subsidies for his wind farms. Now his new solar farm will
Heckington Fen is expected to generate 385 GWh a year, just 0.1% of the UK’s electricity, and its output will be much less in winter when the country actually needs it. Most of the time, the 100,000 homes Vince claims it could power would have to rely entirely on gas power stations.
Based on current market prices, Vince will earn another £6 million a year in subsidies for this new solar farm.
Via Not a Lot of People Know That
Featured image: masternews.info, politicshome.com
*****
RELATED
How is this allowed? Ed Miliband signs off ANOTHER giant solar farm – and guess who’s behind it!
CP
The company behind the scheme, Ecotricity, is owned by Labour donor Dale Vince, who has poured a staggering £5.4 million into the party since 2022.
Ed Miliband has approved yet another colossal solar and battery farm project – despite nearly half the site being prime agricultural land.
The controversial decision, made on 24 January 2025, gives the green light to Ecotricity (Heck Fen Solar) Limited to construct and operate a massive ground-mounted solar farm in Lincolnshire, with a capacity exceeding 50 megawatts (MW).
The facility will also include a giant energy storage system with an estimated storage capacity of 200-400 MWand a connection to the National Grid’s Bicker Fen substation.
But here’s the catch – the company behind the scheme, Ecotricity, is owned by Labour donor Dale Vince, who has poured a staggering £5.4 million into the party since 2022.
The project has sparked outrage among local communities and farmers, who say it’s a blatant land grab, taking away top-graded farmland that should be used for food production. A shocking 49% of the site is prime agricultural land, raising serious questions about the government’s commitment to food security.
Nick Timothy MP, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk said:
“HOW IS THIS ALLOWED? ED MILIBAND HAS APPROVED ANOTHER GIANT SOLAR AND BATTERY FARM. 49% OF THE SITE IS TOP-GRADED AGRICULTURAL LAND. THE APPLICANT? ECOTRICITY, OWNED BY … LABOUR DONOR DALE VINCE. THEY’VE GIVEN £5.4 MILLION TO LABOUR SINCE 2022.”
According to sources, this isn’t Ecotricity’s first attempt to develop the site. The location has a history with the company, having previously been the subject of a planning application for a large wind farm. Initially rejected at the local level, the proposal was later called in by then-Secretary of State Ed Davey. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) raised concerns about potential radar interference at nearby RAF bases, ultimately leading to the project’s refusal.
However, despite fierce opposition, the approval has now been granted for a colossal Ecotricity solar and battery farm project under the Planning Act 2008, which allows large-scale infrastructure projects to bypass local council objections and go straight to the Secretary of State.
Critics also argue that the lack of an upper limit on generating capacity means the site could expand beyond its current 50 MW minimum, further encroaching on valuable farmland.
A spokesperson for the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) slammed the move, saying:
“WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED THAT PRODUCTIVE FARMLAND IS BEING SACRIFICED FOR LARGE-SCALE SOLAR DEVELOPMENTS AT A TIME WHEN FOOD SECURITY SHOULD BE A TOP PRIORITY.”
Labour’s decision has also raised eyebrows in Westminster, with opposition MPs questioning whether Miliband’s approval of the project is influenced by Vince’s generous donations to Labour. Calls are growing for an investigation into the government’s ties to major donors and their influence over planning decisions.
Local residents are now gearing up for a fight, with campaign groups vowing to challenge the project and calling for a review of the decision.
The full details of the project can be found on the National Infrastructure Planning website: Ecotricity Heck Fen Solar Project.
One thing’s for sure – questions will be asked, and the public deserves answers. How is this allowed?
How is this allowed? Ed Miliband has approved another giant solar and battery farm. 49% of the site is top-graded agricultural land.
The applicant? Ecotricity, owned by … Labour donor Dale Vince. They’ve given £5.4 million to Labour since 2022. https://t.co/psLztSJk1t
— Nick Timothy MP (@NJ_Timothy) January 24, 2025
Main Photo: Dale Vince with Jeremy Corbyn at Forest Green Rovers Football Club in December 2019. Source: Visiting Forest Green Rovers Football Club. Image zoomed in to fit screen. Photo source: Wikipedia. Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
This article (How is this allowed? Ed Miliband signs off ANOTHER giant solar farm – and guess who’s behind it!) was created and published by Conservative Post and is republished here under “Fair Use” with attribution to the author CP
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Liberty Beacon Project.
Leave a Reply